Human Astronomy 101
by virginiagirl101
Summary: A night at karaoke turns interesting when Annie gets up to sing. I've decided that this takes place after the glee episode. Rating for language. J/A. Inspired by a prompt on Milady Milord and Allison Brie's drunken karaoke.


**Author's Note: I was lurking Milady Milord on LiveJournal and came upon a prompt that was inspired by the video of Alison Brie singing **_**Total Eclipse of the Heart**_**. And well, I had to do it. Oh, and I know it's completely unrealistic they'd get to sing this much, but I don't care, because I can dream, and in my dreams, you sing as much as you want.**

**Summary: A night at karaoke turns interesting when Annie gets up to sing. I've decided that this takes place after the glee episode**_**. **_**Rating for language.****J/A **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Dan Harmon owns **_**Community. **_**Bonnie Tyler sang/possibly owns **_**Total Eclipse of the Heart.**_** The other artists own their respective songs.**

_Human Astronomy 101_

Nobody knew whose idea karaoke was. It might have been Troy, whose reaction to finding out the bar was opening was to light up an exclaim "awesome!" it might have been Britta, who, being always up for a drink, felt that karaoke was a good way to delve into the deeper issues of her friends. It may have been Shirley, who while avoiding alcohol, was still a diva—a lovable diva, but a diva nonetheless—and who never missed out on a chance to sing. It may have been Pierce, who in an attempt to remain relevant, proclaimed karaoke to be 'the coolest' and insisted that he'd scored a lot of women that way. It may have been Abed, who expressed the belief that "musical episodes in general are a good way to explore the deeper thoughts and feelings of characters that would otherwise be difficult to explore, and the song choice in particular would be good for character development." It may have been Annie, who, horribly embarrassed by her memory of serenading Jeff in glee, wanted a new memory associated with him and her singing. And finally, it might have been Jeff himself, who fully realized the blackmail potential of getting his friends drunk and recording their drunken performances.

Whoever came up with the idea doesn't matter. What does matter is that our heroes somehow ended up at a bar that catered to Karaoke on a Thursday night. They all squeezed themselves into a booth and ordered their drinks. Troy ordered an Irish Cream because "it's like chocolate milk, but with alcohol. How is that not awesome?" Abed stuck with a beer—classic, a staple in every bar scene ever. Britta ordered vodka and Jeff ordered scotch, because some things never change. Shirley ordered a virgin mudslide. Pierce ordered a Martini, because "That's what sophisticated men drink. Not that you would know anything about that." Finally, Annie ordered a Blue Lagoon, because it doesn't taste like alcohol, but it packs a punch.

Troy and Abed start out the singing for the group, getting up on stage in matching suits, hats, and sunglasses and rocking out to _Jailhouse Rock _by the Blues Brothers. Afterwards, they take their backpacks to the bathroom, changing and coming out in different outfits. Troy is wearing normal clothes, but Abed is dressed like a Greaser. This is a good thing, as it is time for him and Annie to sing next, and their rendition of _Summer Nights_ from Grease brings down the house.

Next, Troy and Britta perform a surprisingly sweet duet of Sonny and Cher's _I Got You Babe_. Neither of them stop smiling for the rest of the night. After a 20 minute argument, the girls all get up and perform Pat Benatar's _Hit Me With Your Best Shot_, mostly due to the fact that Britta had drunk enough alcohol to be convinced that it was "subversive enough that the mainstreamness of it was canceled out." (Jeff has been recording all of these performances, but he makes sure he gets a really good view of that one—both Annie and Britta are more than slightly tipsy at this point.)

Shirley shows that she's braver than all of them and takes the stage by herself next, belting out _I Believe in Jesus _by Donna Summers, and causing the bar to give her the traditional "lighter treatment". By this point in the night, Abed and Pierce are tipsy (it turns out Pierce doesn't even like martinis, but insists on not drinking anything else); Jeff is drunk enough to be fun, but not to be a jerk; Britta is pretty out of it; and Annie is drunk but not hammered, which is amusing because when Annie drinks she has a potty mouth.

Somehow, Jeff is convinced that it is a good idea for him to sing _Wanted Dead or Alive_. Everyone makes sure to record this, and they all are planning on posting it on Facebook. A few drinks later, and Abed manages to convince Jeff and Annie that _Bad Medicine_ is the perfect duet song, which means Jeff is two for two with Bon Jovi. Britta makes sure to record this for the blackmail potential, because Annie is surprisingly familiar with the song, and because they are both surprisingly good dancers when drunk.

At that point, Pierce declares that he has to leave "for a date". In the ensuing commotion of helping him to a cab, they lose track of Annie, who is at this point pretty drunk. When they sit down, they try to look for her, but they don't see her. And then they do see her. Because she is on stage.

"Hi everybody!" She practically screams into the microphone. "How are you doing tonight?"

The crowd cheers in approval.

She nods. "I'm good too. In fact, I'm so good I'm gonna sing you a little song, okay?"

There's more cheering.

"Okay. This song goes out to Jeff Winger! Jeff? Where are you?"

Britta and Shirley are nudging him, so he sheepishly stands up and waves.

"There you are! I was looking for you. Anyways, like I said, this is for you, okay? And I'm sorry there's no sexy outfit this time, but I'm trying to make up for the baby talk, okay?"

"Oh my gosh, she is so drunk," Troy whispers.

"Jeffrey?" Shirley asks. "What's this about a sexy outfit?"

Jeff is saved from answering by the sound of the song starting. It's _Total Eclipse of the Heart_, and he thinks that it could be worse.

She starts out the song by swaying drunkenly to the music. Then she starts singing.

"Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round. (Turn around). Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears." As she sings this line, she leans into the microphone, holding it in both hands.

"(Turn around). Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by." She straightens up, putting one hand on the microphone stand and slowly pointing at him as she sings the next line.

"(Turn around). Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes." She lets her hand drop, holding on to the microphone stand again and leaning into it.

"(Turn Around, bright eyes). Every now and then I fall apart." After this, she takes the microphone in both hands and removes it from the stand.

"(Turn Around, bright eyes) mother fucking every now and then I fall apart." She bows down, practically screaming this into the microphone.

As she sings the chorus, she holds the microphone in two hands and rocks forward and backwards with the beat, singing loudly and drunkenly into the microphone. "And I need you now tonight, I fucking need you more than ever, and if you only hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever. And we'll only be making it right, 'Cause we'll never be wrong together," at this point she slowly starts to tilt back and sing up into the microphone as the songs picks up, stumbling a bit when she loses her balance, "we can take it to the end of the line, your love is like a shadow on me all of the time. (All of the time)."

She straightens up at this point, before leaning down into the microphone and getting louder, stepping backwards and forwards clumsily. "I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark, we're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks! I really need you tonight." She straightens up as she sings "Forever's gonna start tonight. (Forever's gonna start tonight)."

Now she slowly rocks side to side, stumbling every now and then. One of her arms goes over her head and she waves it in time with her swaying. "Once upon a time I was falling in love, but now I'm only falling apart. There's nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart." Her demeanor gets sadder as she continues to sing, and she stops moving, slumping forward a little.

"Once upon a time there was light in my life, but now there's only love in the dark." As she takes a breath, the look of sadness on her face causes his breath to catch. "Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart." She smiles sadly and shrugs.

She starts the instrumental interlude just standing there, but then she starts swaying around on the stage and giggling. She puts the microphone back in the stand and turns in slow circles as best as she can, as if she is slow dancing with someone on the stage. Every two steps or so she stumbles drunkenly. As she sways, she brings her arms up and moves them with the music. Sometimes they go over her head and wave back and forth. Sometimes they go side to side and she snaps along with the music. As the interlude picks up, she walks up to the microphone stand and starts tilting it side to side, swaying with it and stomping a foot in time with the music.

"(Turn Around, bright eyes). Every now and then I fall apart." For the next parts she puts both hands on the mic, leaning and screaming into it. "(Turn Around, bright eyes). Mother fucking every now and then I fall apart!"

She yanks the microphone out of the stand, leaning into it and singing loudly, stumbling back and forth with the song. "And I need you now tonight, I fucking need you more than ever! And if you only hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever!"

She tilts her head back, arching her back and singing even louder, somehow. "And we'll only be making it right, 'cause we'll never be wrong," at this point she bends her knees and leans forward, crooning into the microphone. "Together we can take it to the end of the line, your love is like a shadow on me all of the time."

At this point, she loses her balance and falls to her knees on the stage, still tilted forward and singing into the microphone, but she slowly starts to lean back as the song builds. "(All of the time). I don't know what to do, I'm always in the dark," at this point she's tilted back all the way, arching her back and singing passionately up into the microphone again, but on her knees this time. "Living in a powder keg and giving off sparks." Suddenly she straightens up all the way just in time for "I really need you tonight!"

She slowly gets back on her feet while singing the next part. "Forever's gonna start tonight.  
(Forever's gonna start tonight). Once upon a time I was falling in love," as she sings this, she tightens an arm around her as if giving herself a one armed hug, "but now I'm only falling apart," and she flings the arm around her out to the side, before pointing at him with it again. "Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart." She makes a fist with one of her hands, bringing it up and pulling it down in front of her body as she sings the next lines. "A total eclipse of the heart. A total eclipse of the heart."

The bar erupts into cheers as she finishes, and she grins brightly. "Thank you, thank you!" she slurs into the microphone before turning to face him. "Jeff," she smiles at him, "I hope you enjoyed it." Then she stumbles trying to get off the stage.

He laughs, walking up to help her off of it. He ends up grabbing her upper arms as she hops off stage, and when she lands she stumbles into him clumsily, resting her head on his chest. "Hi!" she says, smiling brightly at him.

He grins back. "Hi."

He slings an arm over her shoulders and they make their way back to the table. "Did you like my song?" she looks up at him with wide eyes, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

He wraps his arm firmly around her neck. "I loved it," he tells her. "I was especially impressed by your star power up there."

She just grins at him.

"And the fact that you performed the old school version."

"Well duh," she informs him. "Everyone knows that's only way to sing it."

He nods seriously. "I'm just glad you put that much effort into it."

Somehow throughout this conversation their faces have gotten closer together, and now they only need to move a bit before they're kissing. Just as Jeff is about to do it, he gets cut off.

"Sheesh, get a room you guys," Britta groans, looking around the table. "Am I right?"

"Well this isn't exactly the location for that kind of behavior, now is it?" Shirley agrees.

They pull back to stare at them, surprised because they had forgotten they were there.

"Man, you guys suck," Troy whines, starting to get teary. "I thought it was sweet, like from a movie."

"Don't worry, Troy," Abed says, patting Troy on the shoulder. "If they had kissed, it would have been written off as a drunken mistake and their will-they-won't-they would have gone back to stage one. This way, there's a possibility of it actually being resolved, which is a much better outcome."

Troy's face lights up. "That WOULD be better. Like Star Wars, with zombies. And teddy bears. Teddy bear zombies?"

Abed nods. "That would be awesome indeed." Troy starts happily scribbling ideas on a napkin. At the stares of the others, Abed shrugs. "He's drunk."

Jeff nods. "I don't think he's the only one," he says, nudging Annie who has finished up her drink and is currently trying her best to mess up his hair.

"Speak for yourself," she slurs out before brightening. "Jeff! Imma give you a Mohawk, okay? Okay!"

"Only if it's a cool Mohawk, and not a lameass one," he agrees.

Britta snorts. "It figures you would do that," she announces, waving her drink around. "Mohawks are like the hair style of douchebags."

Shirley casts a concerned glance around the table. "All right everyone," she says brightly. "It's time to go!"

They all groan. "Can't we stay for five more minutes?" Troy asks. "Pleeeeease?" he attempts to give her the puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, pleaaase?" Annie and Abed join in.

"No," Shirley says primly. "We have class and study group tomorrow."

Everyone groans, but they are eventually loaded up into the minivan. Shirley drops them all off at Casa de Trobednnie, where they promptly crash onto their bed/bunk beds/a recliner and fall asleep.

The next day, Annie wakes up to the sound of her alarm going off. She groans, quickly turning it off and going to hide under her pillow, but gets distracted by her cell phone beeping. She quickly opens it, seeing that she has a text from Britta.

'Good performance last night!' attached is a video of her . . . singing. On stage. To Jeff. Oh God, first the glee thing and now this? She was never going to show her face in the presence of any of the study group members again. She could move out without Troy and Abed knowing, right? It wouldn't be that difficult.

Before she could start seriously planning anything, there was a knock on her door. "Hey, Annie, are you awake yet?" Oh gosh, it was Jeff. Maybe if she ignored him he'd think she was still asleep.

"Annie? I heard your alarm go off."

She groans loudly. Great, he probably wanted to gloat or have a talk with her about 'distance' or whatever. "Go away," she moans.

"Come on, don't be like that."

She doesn't respond. Just when she thinks he's going to leave her alone, he speaks up again.

"Can I come in?"

"GO AWAY, JEFF," she half moans, half screams.

"If you don't let me come in I'm just going to force you to have this conversation through the door, with various people listening in."

She sighs. "Fine, you can come in." She proceeds to bury her head in the pillow so she won't have to see the look on his face.

He comes in, shutting the door and sitting awkwardly on the side of her bed. "Annie."

She ignores him, pressing deeper into the pillows.

"Aaaniieee," he sings.

"What do you want, Jeff?" she snaps.

"I want you to stop hiding your face from me."

"Well I want to erase last night from existence. We can't get what we want can we?"

Jeff sighs. "Annie."

"Go away."

He places his hand gently on her head. "Come on, look at me."

Giving in, she rolls over, looking at him in annoyance. To her surprise, the look on his face isn't smug or teasing, but soft and searching, almost like the one he'd had on his face during their conversation about how she had to grow up. "Why are you so intent on not talking to me?"

"Um, I don't know, maybe because I _serenaded_ you last night? I mean, I can't imagine why that could be potentially awkward!"

He sighs, but his expression remained the same. "You don't have anything to be worried about." She cuts him off with a snort. "I'm serious, Annie. It was actually kind of adorable."

She sighs in annoyance. "Right, because that's me! Adorable Annie. Everything I do is adorable, I'm so cute, like a puppy or a toddler."

His lips twitch, but he doesn't smile. "To be fair, I'm pretty sure most puppies and toddlers aren't capable of doing drunken karaoke."

She sighs and blushes, smacking his chest, but she does feel a little bit better. "Okay then, I'm adorable like a drunk teenage sister or something."

"Annie, you know I don't think of you as a teenager," he starts, looking in her eyes. "Or as a sister. Or any family member."

"You say that now, Jeff, but wait until the study group makes comments and we're back to me being like a little sister again." He opens his mouth to answer, but she cuts him off. "Oh gosh, the study group. What are they going to say?"

He just smiles at her. "Nothing, probably." At her skeptical look, he continues "Annie, we all have embarrassing videos of us performing silly songs. If they say something just throw their performances back at them."

She rolls on her back as he lays down next to her. "That's easy for you to say, you didn't serenade anyone. And neither did they. That makes this easily more embarrassing than any of their performances."

He's quiet for a moment. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, it was the best serenading I've ever had."

She can help but smile. "Really?"

He nudges her hand with his. "Oh yeah, I wouldn't have wanted it to be done by anyone else."

"Thanks."

They are quiet for a few minutes, before Jeff takes a deep breath. "Hey, Annie?" he asks, rolling to lay on his side facing her.

"Yes?" she asks, mirroring his position.

"Why did you pick that song specifically?"

She groans, turning her face into the pillow. "I'm not answering that."

He takes her hand. "Come on."

"No."

He's smiling softly. "Why not?"

She stares at him incredulously. "It's embarrassing. Plus you'll freak out. Can't we just pretend it never happened?"

He grins at her. "Nope." When her expression doesn't change, he sighs, nudging her with his knee. "I promise not to freak out."

She looks up at him, feeling vulnerable. "You swear?"

He nods. "Pinky promise," and he interlocks their pinkies.

She giggles, considering it. She knows she shouldn't say, she should ask again that he just drop it, because it will mean making herself vulnerable again, and, let's face it, that hadn't exactly worked out so well in the past. But she also knows that if she does do that, they might never come back to this place, and she will always wonder what could have/would have happened if she'd just confessed.

"Fine," she sighs. "Keeping in mind that I was super drunk at the time, I guess the song reminds me of us. Or at least my side of 'us'".

He looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just that no matter what I do, or how hard I try, I always find myself turning back to you. I try to move on, but then you look at me with that look, or say something, and I've fallen for you again. Other guys just don't measure up to you any more—it really is like you eclipsed my heart. And there's nothing I can do about it, no matter how much easier it would be if I wasn't stuck in a one sided attraction." At the end of the confession, she buries her face in the pillow again.

He squeezes her hand gently before entwining their fingers and bringing her head back up. "I think I know exactly what you mean, except for the end."

She sits up suddenly. "What? Jeff, what are you talking about?"

He sits up too, turning so they're both sitting cross legged facing each other. "I feel that way too. I mean, you have to have realized by now that your attraction isn't one sided."

She's beginning to feel a little bit light headed. "It's not?"

He smiles at her. "No. I've had . . . feelings . . . of some sort for you since our first year, I just kept pushing them down. First it was because you were too young, then it was because you're too good for me and deserve better. I mean, surely you must have realized this at some point, what with glee."

"Well, Jeff, I thought I knew, but then I was told it was all in my head," she tells him archly, giving herself a mental point when he flinches. "As for glee, you didn't look all too attracted, you looked disgusted and creeped out."

"That's because, a: glee is creepy, and b: you're so much better than that bit. But I still joined, didn't I? I didn't give in just for the path of least resistance. I mean, even though you were acting like a baby at the end, I still thought the outfit was unbelievably sexy. And I thought the bit was sexy until you started acting really dumb."

She looks at him with what she knows are wide eyes. "Really?"

He smiles at her. "Yeah. Anyway, like I was saying, I kept pushing my feelings down for you. But they've been back for a while—pretty much since the beginning of the year. And what with Troy and Abed's support, and my seeing a new therapist, I've decided that I'm sick and tired of denying myself of you. Last night, you proved to be more grown up and mature than any of our friends by really putting yourself out there."

"Jeff, I was drunk."

"Yeah, but even drunk, you still poured your heart into that song."

He starts to lean down and kiss her, but she stops him with her finger on his lips. "You're not going to kiss me and then ignore me for three months are you?"

He looks at her seriously. "I promise I will definitely acknowledge to you after this. In fact, I'll be acknowledging you so much you'll be sick of it."

"And you're not going to deny this in front of everybody, are you?"

"No. in fact I will gladly sing it from any height or ledge you'd like."

She hums. "I might have to take you up on that. And this isn't because you feel sorry for me, or because you're horny and I'm available, right?"

His face softens. "Annie Edison, I am going to kiss you because I . . . have extremely strong feelings for you, and because there is no one else I've wanted to kiss for like three months."

She nods. "I'm going to make you hold my hand in the hallway."

"That's fine with me."

"And you'll have to carry my backpack."

"Okay."

"And help me with my dioramas and schoolwork."

"I do that already."

"And if you want to kiss me against the lockers, I would be fine with that."

His eyes widen. "Wait, we have lockers?" then he smirks at her. "That sounds very hot."

She nods. "Okay, you can kiss me now."

He grins at her. "Finally."

The kiss starts off light, but soon one of them adds more pressure, and before she knows it, they are kneeling on the bed, facing each other and trying to get as close as possible. They are so involved in the kiss, they don't hear the knocking, or the door opening.

"Aw, that's so sweet," they hear Troy say, and when they whip apart to look at him, he's wiping away a tear. "I'm glad I finally got my romantic kiss."

"What have I told you about entering my room without knocking?" Annie asks them.

"Not to," Abed starts, "But in our defense, we did knock, you just didn't hear us. Anyways, we just wanted to let you know you have a half an hour before we need to leave for school," and they walk out the room.

Annie groans. "Everyone's gonna know aren't they?"

Jeff smiles, nodding. "Yup."

She looks at him, feeling shy. "Any regrets?"

"Other than not doing this earlier? Not a one." And he kisses her again.

**Author's Note: So, this kind of got away from the karaoke, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also, it gave me ideas for more fic. Again, please reviews, it makes writing this so worth it!**


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